1986 Seville for a New Boater
- Thread starter Warwgn
- Start date
Warwgn
Member
Not going well tonight so had to stop while i am still sane. Took off fuel pump and ound the gasket was crooked which explains it leaking out there. Still not sure if it was leaking fuel but dont think it was, starting t9 pean towards water now but not convinced it is new. May have had water in the pan to begin with and just finally got all mixed in.
Lot of issues tonight, wrong spark plugs, no terminal lugs left in my parts bins to properly install the ignition switch, steering wheel wont work with new rack system, fuel line is leaking like crazy at the carb now. Just need to breathe and start again, and collect my thoughts, will start with the fuel line replacement and terminals to wire the ignition. At least the new battery works awesome, the engine fired right up but had to shut it down due to the leak.
I can see this is going to be a fight but hey i know i will win in the end.
Lot of issues tonight, wrong spark plugs, no terminal lugs left in my parts bins to properly install the ignition switch, steering wheel wont work with new rack system, fuel line is leaking like crazy at the carb now. Just need to breathe and start again, and collect my thoughts, will start with the fuel line replacement and terminals to wire the ignition. At least the new battery works awesome, the engine fired right up but had to shut it down due to the leak.
I can see this is going to be a fight but hey i know i will win in the end.
Warwgn
Member
Well not sure what happened but been idling for 15 min now and no chocolate milk, oil looks perfect still. Must have had water in the pan from the start some how? Ok back to tying up loose ends so i can splash it next weekend.
Warwgn
Member
Good progress today, i have helm control now, steering wheel and cable installed and all the gages hooked up. Power steering works and the oil pressure, volt meter, and tach all work, ntnsure about the speedo and the trim gauge is a no go. Oil still looks perfect but now for the problems.....gear oil is slowly leaking out of the lower screw plug, prolly needs a new oring so not to big a deal. Fired the engine up when my buddy stopped by and all hell broke loose!!!! Bad squalling noise but it slowly went away as i dropped rpm then gone all together, tightened up the power steering belt and all seemed fine..until later in the day i cranked it up and it did it again, then tightened the alternator belt but no dice as you rev otit it makes noise.
Well after conecting the gauges i notice the volts go up to almost 18 then back down to 13 then bounce around, got out my multimeter and sure enough at the battery voltage is jumping around and the alternator is way hotter than it should be. I suspect this is where the higher rpm noise was coming from, its as quiet as a mouse at low rpm and really starts to chatter as it revs up. So went to the local auto parts store and they cant test it, but to special order one was 252 bucks, lol no thanks. Went on ebay and found one brand new for 72 shipped from DB electrical, i know they make good stuff i had one from them for my goldwing and it performed great.
Anyway should be here by thursday so in the mean time i will finish wiring and cleaning it up so its ready next weekend.
Well after conecting the gauges i notice the volts go up to almost 18 then back down to 13 then bounce around, got out my multimeter and sure enough at the battery voltage is jumping around and the alternator is way hotter than it should be. I suspect this is where the higher rpm noise was coming from, its as quiet as a mouse at low rpm and really starts to chatter as it revs up. So went to the local auto parts store and they cant test it, but to special order one was 252 bucks, lol no thanks. Went on ebay and found one brand new for 72 shipped from DB electrical, i know they make good stuff i had one from them for my goldwing and it performed great.
Anyway should be here by thursday so in the mean time i will finish wiring and cleaning it up so its ready next weekend.
Warwgn
Member
Starting to come together, got the bilge pump qnd fan hooked up and the windshield wiper. Also hooked up the fuel gauge and found a broken wire at the sender for the trim gauge. More to come but getting closer.
Couple of things....
Be sure and listen to what AlWhite said, make sure that alternator is a marine alternator. Marine electrical items must be ignition protected.
Next, you should not wait to change the bellows. They are bad....trust me. When the outdrive sits for a period of time as this one obviously did, the rubber dries out and as soon as you move the drive up or down, or side to side, they crack. Cracked exhaust bellows (the bottom one) is no big deal. However, the driveshaft bellows as well as the shift cable bellows can sink your boat not to mention cause mucho damage to u-joints and gimbal bearings. Trust me on this. Remember the water pump. Change all the bellows. You have a Mercruiser Alpha 1, Generation 1 outdrive. They make a kit for this with all of the O-rings and gaskets you need for this job. It should be an easy job for you.
Also, your trim gauge is not working because the sending units are bad. This is a common problem. If you want to change the senders the time to do it is when you are changing the bellows. This job is not hard but it sucks as getting to the components is challenging. You will be tempted to cut and splice the wires. You can do that but it will not last....they never do.
Good luck.
Be sure and listen to what AlWhite said, make sure that alternator is a marine alternator. Marine electrical items must be ignition protected.
Next, you should not wait to change the bellows. They are bad....trust me. When the outdrive sits for a period of time as this one obviously did, the rubber dries out and as soon as you move the drive up or down, or side to side, they crack. Cracked exhaust bellows (the bottom one) is no big deal. However, the driveshaft bellows as well as the shift cable bellows can sink your boat not to mention cause mucho damage to u-joints and gimbal bearings. Trust me on this. Remember the water pump. Change all the bellows. You have a Mercruiser Alpha 1, Generation 1 outdrive. They make a kit for this with all of the O-rings and gaskets you need for this job. It should be an easy job for you.
Also, your trim gauge is not working because the sending units are bad. This is a common problem. If you want to change the senders the time to do it is when you are changing the bellows. This job is not hard but it sucks as getting to the components is challenging. You will be tempted to cut and splice the wires. You can do that but it will not last....they never do.
Good luck.
Warwgn
Member
Not to worry it is a marine alternator, full screens and all that jazz, just got a really good deal on line. I am ordering a set of bellows today too, might as well get that over with, and will see what I can do about trim senders too like you say might as well do that while I am in there.
Warwgn
Member
Well that was easy, just need the pivot bolt tool and new parts. Took apart the trim sensors and they were junk no repairing them so will get them on order before i go to bed. Looks like i wont be on the lake this weekend but at least when i do get out there wont have to worry about sinking.
Warwgn
Member
Well all my parts look good and I got the tool to take the inner housing thing out, the bellows were in good shape, at least better than I thought, but s
Well all my parts look good and I got the tool to take the inner housing thing out, the bellows were in good shape, at least better than I thought, but still to replace the trim senders it had to come apart. I saw videos where people changed them without removing the drive, but now that I had mine apart I have decided they lied!!! Or they had little tiny baby hands, even with the drive and bellows out of the way I could barely get my giant gorilla hands in there to remove the retainer bolts for the wires, and think I will make the kids go inside when I start to put them back in so they don’t hear all my choice words.
The other fun part is I have a broken screw on the starboard side for the trim limit switch, gonna hitch up to the trailer and move the boat to the front of the shop so I can reach it with the welder and try welding a nut to the broken screw and see if I can back it out. If that don’t work will have to grind it off flush and try to drill it for an easy out or just drill it out and retap the hole. I tried with vise grips and no joy at all so on to the next methods.
Also as you can see from the pics it is very crusty is there and needs a real good cleaning and some fresh paint. The good side is the gimbal bearing and all the u-Joints are very smooth and tight, I will leave the u-joint alone just grease them but will go ahead and replace the gimbal bearing since the kit comes with a new one and I might as well do it while I am in there so it’s good for the next 20 years. I can do the u-joints when I pull the engine this winter to replace the stringers if I decide to keep it and go that far.
Hope the Bellows show up today or tomorrow, but for now got plenty to keep me busy with new alternator and all the cleaning and painting of the out drive and install the trim stuff.
Well all my parts look good and I got the tool to take the inner housing thing out, the bellows were in good shape, at least better than I thought, but still to replace the trim senders it had to come apart. I saw videos where people changed them without removing the drive, but now that I had mine apart I have decided they lied!!! Or they had little tiny baby hands, even with the drive and bellows out of the way I could barely get my giant gorilla hands in there to remove the retainer bolts for the wires, and think I will make the kids go inside when I start to put them back in so they don’t hear all my choice words.
The other fun part is I have a broken screw on the starboard side for the trim limit switch, gonna hitch up to the trailer and move the boat to the front of the shop so I can reach it with the welder and try welding a nut to the broken screw and see if I can back it out. If that don’t work will have to grind it off flush and try to drill it for an easy out or just drill it out and retap the hole. I tried with vise grips and no joy at all so on to the next methods.
Also as you can see from the pics it is very crusty is there and needs a real good cleaning and some fresh paint. The good side is the gimbal bearing and all the u-Joints are very smooth and tight, I will leave the u-joint alone just grease them but will go ahead and replace the gimbal bearing since the kit comes with a new one and I might as well do it while I am in there so it’s good for the next 20 years. I can do the u-joints when I pull the engine this winter to replace the stringers if I decide to keep it and go that far.
Hope the Bellows show up today or tomorrow, but for now got plenty to keep me busy with new alternator and all the cleaning and painting of the out drive and install the trim stuff.
Last edited:
Warwgn
Member
No luck with the welding trick this time, its just too small and breaks right back off, kina thought it might since my tig is not spooled for stainless. Oh well i guess tomorrow will be fun trying to drill it out and tap the hole again, maybe i will get lucky with the easy out who knows.
On the up side the bellows and shift cable came in so all my parts are here, even stopped on the way home and picked up some marine grease. After fooling with the broken trim screw i moved on and took the canvas cover off and will try to sew it back up sometime this weekend, or talk my wife into it. Going on the cheap for now and dont want to spen a wad of cash on it before i even get it wet and see if it works good or not.
I did get all the glass clean and some other odd and ends as it was getting dark and the mosquitoes started taking over. Anybody know where to get a replacement wiper blade for the windshield?
On the up side the bellows and shift cable came in so all my parts are here, even stopped on the way home and picked up some marine grease. After fooling with the broken trim screw i moved on and took the canvas cover off and will try to sew it back up sometime this weekend, or talk my wife into it. Going on the cheap for now and dont want to spen a wad of cash on it before i even get it wet and see if it works good or not.
I did get all the glass clean and some other odd and ends as it was getting dark and the mosquitoes started taking over. Anybody know where to get a replacement wiper blade for the windshield?
Warwgn
Member
Ok you guys got me, and youtube got me too! Changing bellows is not as easy as it sound or looks and i did not finish in the 6 hours I worked on it, I did change the gimbal bearing and got the ujoint bellow and shift cable bellow fully installed. The exhaust bellow is connected to the transom side but fought me like the devil and i finally gave up for the night as it was just too dark.
I also got a new wiper blade installed while waiting on things to dry, oh and the trim senders are wired in and good to go, even tested to see the gauge was working. So was a fruitful day but tomorrow i should wrap this up and move on to wax and shine.
I also got a new wiper blade installed while waiting on things to dry, oh and the trim senders are wired in and good to go, even tested to see the gauge was working. So was a fruitful day but tomorrow i should wrap this up and move on to wax and shine.
Warwgn
Member
Wow what a project that was, had to buy some new tools and modify some others, but all in all was successful with it. Got the drive apart and cleaned up
Took two sessions to complete but I spent a bit of time getting the broken screw out for the trim sender, then ran the new wires for those and painted the housings and replace3d the gimbal bearing and all the bellows and the shift cable. Turned out looking purdy nice and works good as far as I can tell.
I do have a small issue or I am just dumb, but the trim indicator reads backwards from what I think it should. When the drive is all the way down the needle is pointing at the up arrow, and when it is all the way up it points at the down arrow? Does not matter how I hook up the wires, it stays backwards, I swapped the leads at the pump and on the sender side, even tried to wire the gauge backwards all to no avail. It is accurate and operates smooth and even but just reads opposite of where I think it should. Maybe it is just the gauge? Oh well easy for me to remember to ignore the arrows.
Next step was putting all the interior back in, and it is in bad need of full replacement but I will get to that later down the road.
Also found out the horn does not work so need to get that replaced and working before I head out, and also need to wire up the running lights and a get a spot light just in case I am out after it gets dark, and might wire in the LED strips I have for cabin lighting too, all lots of thigs to have it ready to go this weekend.
But where I left off was shining up the paint with some rubbing compound, then need to wax it, should take a day or so for that after work this week and another couple days to wire the lights like I want. I am sure ready to take it to the water…..
Took two sessions to complete but I spent a bit of time getting the broken screw out for the trim sender, then ran the new wires for those and painted the housings and replace3d the gimbal bearing and all the bellows and the shift cable. Turned out looking purdy nice and works good as far as I can tell.
I do have a small issue or I am just dumb, but the trim indicator reads backwards from what I think it should. When the drive is all the way down the needle is pointing at the up arrow, and when it is all the way up it points at the down arrow? Does not matter how I hook up the wires, it stays backwards, I swapped the leads at the pump and on the sender side, even tried to wire the gauge backwards all to no avail. It is accurate and operates smooth and even but just reads opposite of where I think it should. Maybe it is just the gauge? Oh well easy for me to remember to ignore the arrows.
Next step was putting all the interior back in, and it is in bad need of full replacement but I will get to that later down the road.
Also found out the horn does not work so need to get that replaced and working before I head out, and also need to wire up the running lights and a get a spot light just in case I am out after it gets dark, and might wire in the LED strips I have for cabin lighting too, all lots of thigs to have it ready to go this weekend.
But where I left off was shining up the paint with some rubbing compound, then need to wax it, should take a day or so for that after work this week and another couple days to wire the lights like I want. I am sure ready to take it to the water…..
So the next time you do a bellows job it will only take 4 hours. There are a few tricks but now that it is done and out of the way that is one less thing to worry about.
Warwgn
Member
The fun is about to begin I hope, I picked up the last of the essentials last night, life vests for all the family, new anchor rope, battery hold down tray, stick on registration letters and numbers 3” high, flares, and a floating key chain. I already have a throwable PFD, anchor, first aide kit, and fire extinguisher, still gotta pick up a new horn on the way home though. Oh and I got a 12V plug with two USB plugs so I can charge my phones and power a spot light in the future. I think that should be about it for things I need to have, and after this weekend and if it is successful I can start working on wants and making the boat a lot nicer.
I got my wife to show me how to use the sewing machine and got ¾ of the way through re-stitching the canvas top before I got tired and went to bed, it was slow at first but quickly got the hang of it so should be an easy breezy to finish after work today. Then get it put back on, install the battery tray, the registration numbers, wire and install the 12v Plug, load all the jackets and clean the cooler and get it ready to fill with ice and drinks and snacks. Oh still need to put the 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] battery back in my truck and connect the wiring to provide 12V aux power to my 7 way plug so I can run the electric winch on the trailer. Don’t think I will get all that done in time to go to the lake today so Looks like tomorrow will me my splash day!
Pics of us on the water should be my next post!!
I got my wife to show me how to use the sewing machine and got ¾ of the way through re-stitching the canvas top before I got tired and went to bed, it was slow at first but quickly got the hang of it so should be an easy breezy to finish after work today. Then get it put back on, install the battery tray, the registration numbers, wire and install the 12v Plug, load all the jackets and clean the cooler and get it ready to fill with ice and drinks and snacks. Oh still need to put the 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] battery back in my truck and connect the wiring to provide 12V aux power to my 7 way plug so I can run the electric winch on the trailer. Don’t think I will get all that done in time to go to the lake today so Looks like tomorrow will me my splash day!
Pics of us on the water should be my next post!!
Warwgn
Member
Well it floats and we had a great time. I had a very steep learning curve and some mechanical issues but we got 40 miles of fun in. Started the day early finishing up the boat, had to install the top and finish the buffing and waxing on the lower hull. Oh yeah stayed up late the night before to glue in carpet that was a last minute decision.
After loading the cooler and all the snacks and gear and tools and such got hitched up and ready to go. Hooked up the huose and got the engine fired up and warm to just be sure.
Then it was off to the lake, easy drive only 20 miles to the dock i chose. Got backed down the ramp easy enough and hopped out got on the boat checked the bilge and no leaks from my bellows job so fire it up un hook and back up.....uh oh wont go back into neutral or forward gear. I kill the engine put it back in neutral and fire it up the get to the dock and tie off, go park the truck load the kids and off we go. It gets stuck in reverse again but this time when i shifted and gave it som throttle it shot backwards. I turned it off got it gear and started again.....but managed to get in som rocks and thik that is when I bent and chipped out my prop.
I got it out of the marina and on the lake and all seemed well, got it up on plane and trimmed out and was cruising along at 25 and 3800. The weather was. Ot the best and had choppy water with some 1 ft waves, it was fun and the kids loved it. Made it to the other side of the lake and shout up that side to the river, and it calmed down from there. Ran a good ways up before i got stopped and had a safety and registration check. Started back up and it made some nasty noise then settled down again, so we kept goin, then had to slow for a no wake zone and it wanted to die so had to be an azzhat and went a little to fast through there and stopped at the next good sandbar. Let the little ones out for a swim.
That is when i found the alternator belt had broken, no spare on board it was on the garage floor....at this point i figured out the power steerg belt is also too short to work. Dang i was in a tight spot, no water pump or charging....and it was starting to rain lightly. Well had time to kill while i waited for the engine to cool good so went swiming with the kids for a bit, we ate lunch then called there mom and sent her a pictre of the belt part number and told her to pick it up and meet me down river about a mile at a dock there. We swam some more then loaded up and it started and off we went with more reverse fwd issues but i got it managed and down stream we went. Maxe it to the dock and shut it down jumped up on the bow hopped on the dock as we slowly glided in and tied us off. I looked like i had done that a million times, was proud of myself then had to shame myself as i pull the engine cover to get it ready for when the belt arrived. She showed up soon after we docked and i got the belt on easy and sent the 2 little ones home with mom and my oldest went with me so we could mess with the shifting once we got out on the lake and pleny of room for sudden unexpected acceleration.
As we were headed back and cleared the channel for the river made it about a mile out and come across a dead jet ski, so i circle back and they have been sitting for an hour and a half. He didnt wave me down cause he didnt want to bother anyone? He had his son with him and said someone was coming for them but i just couldnt leave them there so through him a rope to tie off and set about the 8 or 9 miles to the other end of the lake to tow them to their ramp.
After that we headed back to our ramp which was not too far, we stopped and tried working on the shifter, what i think is the shift interupt switch is not getting activated. On the hose with no load it shifts fine, uder load we got issues, the swith is good because i can press it and the engine will die off, but when the cables shift the y lever never moves?
Any way we made to the dock and i got the boat on the trailer in one shot, didnt go far enough on so had to crank the winch a bit but not bad fornfirst time. Got it out the water and pulled the plug not much water came out so happy with that but then noticed the damage i had done to the prop. Explains the poor performance now, i thought we had too much rpms for the speed, wot we hit 35 at 4500.
So all in all it was a good firt trip and now gonna take some lessons learned and put on the spare prop that came with the boat and go out again Monday!!
After loading the cooler and all the snacks and gear and tools and such got hitched up and ready to go. Hooked up the huose and got the engine fired up and warm to just be sure.
Then it was off to the lake, easy drive only 20 miles to the dock i chose. Got backed down the ramp easy enough and hopped out got on the boat checked the bilge and no leaks from my bellows job so fire it up un hook and back up.....uh oh wont go back into neutral or forward gear. I kill the engine put it back in neutral and fire it up the get to the dock and tie off, go park the truck load the kids and off we go. It gets stuck in reverse again but this time when i shifted and gave it som throttle it shot backwards. I turned it off got it gear and started again.....but managed to get in som rocks and thik that is when I bent and chipped out my prop.
I got it out of the marina and on the lake and all seemed well, got it up on plane and trimmed out and was cruising along at 25 and 3800. The weather was. Ot the best and had choppy water with some 1 ft waves, it was fun and the kids loved it. Made it to the other side of the lake and shout up that side to the river, and it calmed down from there. Ran a good ways up before i got stopped and had a safety and registration check. Started back up and it made some nasty noise then settled down again, so we kept goin, then had to slow for a no wake zone and it wanted to die so had to be an azzhat and went a little to fast through there and stopped at the next good sandbar. Let the little ones out for a swim.
That is when i found the alternator belt had broken, no spare on board it was on the garage floor....at this point i figured out the power steerg belt is also too short to work. Dang i was in a tight spot, no water pump or charging....and it was starting to rain lightly. Well had time to kill while i waited for the engine to cool good so went swiming with the kids for a bit, we ate lunch then called there mom and sent her a pictre of the belt part number and told her to pick it up and meet me down river about a mile at a dock there. We swam some more then loaded up and it started and off we went with more reverse fwd issues but i got it managed and down stream we went. Maxe it to the dock and shut it down jumped up on the bow hopped on the dock as we slowly glided in and tied us off. I looked like i had done that a million times, was proud of myself then had to shame myself as i pull the engine cover to get it ready for when the belt arrived. She showed up soon after we docked and i got the belt on easy and sent the 2 little ones home with mom and my oldest went with me so we could mess with the shifting once we got out on the lake and pleny of room for sudden unexpected acceleration.
As we were headed back and cleared the channel for the river made it about a mile out and come across a dead jet ski, so i circle back and they have been sitting for an hour and a half. He didnt wave me down cause he didnt want to bother anyone? He had his son with him and said someone was coming for them but i just couldnt leave them there so through him a rope to tie off and set about the 8 or 9 miles to the other end of the lake to tow them to their ramp.
After that we headed back to our ramp which was not too far, we stopped and tried working on the shifter, what i think is the shift interupt switch is not getting activated. On the hose with no load it shifts fine, uder load we got issues, the swith is good because i can press it and the engine will die off, but when the cables shift the y lever never moves?
Any way we made to the dock and i got the boat on the trailer in one shot, didnt go far enough on so had to crank the winch a bit but not bad fornfirst time. Got it out the water and pulled the plug not much water came out so happy with that but then noticed the damage i had done to the prop. Explains the poor performance now, i thought we had too much rpms for the speed, wot we hit 35 at 4500.
So all in all it was a good firt trip and now gonna take some lessons learned and put on the spare prop that came with the boat and go out again Monday!!
Warwgn
Member
Went much better today, boat shifted fine and rand a litle better too. The extra prop was a fixed core 14.5 x 19 but the other one was the same size but the slip in core. I really think i need to go to a 23 pitch to drop the rpm and raise the speed. Cruising at 25 im running 3800. Did 40 miles the first trip and used 17.7 gallons so about 2.2 mpgs not so great. Ran about the same distance but did not refule sinc i wont go out agan till the weekend maybe. Gonna try and order a new prop tomorrow and hope it come in before i got out again.
Kids are really getting into this, was a succesful trip out but took 3 shots to load it on the trailer this time. Oh well.
Kids are really getting into this, was a succesful trip out but took 3 shots to load it on the trailer this time. Oh well.
well sounds like you definitely had an eventful time, with a little work you'll get it figured out and running smooth, but it does seem you are running high on the rpm's for that speed, not an expert but just my thoughts, main thing is you had fun
